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Safe Identification

Posted by

03/24/2017

Accredited Safe And Vault Certification

In order to be valid in the E.U. any certification you see on a safe or vault must be awarded by a certification body that has European accreditation according to EN45011 or the new ISO/IEC 17065:2012 standard. This accreditation is confirmation of competence according to ISO/IEC 17065:2012 to carry out the certification of the specific security products listed on the cert in accordance with the relevant European standards.

Accredited Safe And Vault Certification Bodies

The European Certification Body (ECB) is a neutral certification body accredited to ISO/IEC 17065 and based in Germany. It issues ECB•S certificates for products of the security industry.

VdS is an independent institution in Germany which has been ensuring safety and trust in the fields of fire protection and security for many decades and develops advanced safety concepts for significant industrial and commercial enterprises, leading manufacturers and system businesses as well as specialist firms and independent specialists.

Established in 1956 and approved by the French State in 1961, CNPP Association includes the general interest activities and support functions of CNPP Group. Most of the members of the CNPP association are insurance companies, members of the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA) and the Mutual Insurance Companies Group (GEMA). The certification mark of CNPP for safes and vaults is A2P.

SBSCSweden has been approved as a Notified Body, number 2391, in accordance with the EU’s Construction Products Regulation.

Unaccredited Certification

There are many “certification marks” in the European market that have not achieved accreditation to ISO/IEC 17065:2012 . There are also some certification bodies that are not accredited to certify safes that issue certification labels. Some of these bodies may be certified to test safes but not certify.

There is nothing wrong with a manufacturer or an individual creating a certification mark or grade and using it as a guide on their products, but as a non accredited certification, it has no legal basis under CEN European Standards. The purpose of such a “certification” mark is open to question and can obviously mislead a client to think that an unaccredited certification is proof of properly conducted and certified testing.

Examples Of Unaccredited Safe And Vault Certification

LPCB - a U.K. testing & certification body which is part of the BRE. The LPCB is accredited to test most safe types but is not accredited according to ISO/IEC 17065 to certify safes of any kind .

AiS -The Association Of Insurance Surveyors "AIS Approved Safe" mark is NOT a certification mark.
The AIS is an independent organisation of people working in the safe industry and risk market throughout the UK. The AIS produces a list of safes many of which were manufactured before European certification. The list's stated intent is to act as an aid to the UK and Irish insurance industry. All values quoted in the AIS list are given in pounds Sterling and there is no provision within the rates for an intruder alarm.

Safe Identification

The Primary Method Of Establishing A Safe's Certification Is To Open It

When a safe is certified according to European standards it has a certification badge fixed to the inside of its door stating the model name, the test grade achieved, the name of the certification body, its weight and type.

All certified and tested safes will display certification plates on the inside of the main door.

Remember: To issue an accredited certification of a safe or vault test the issuing body must be accredited to certify such tests. An accreditation to test safes is not the same as an accreditation to certify.

All certified safes tested to the EN1143-1 (non deposit) or EN1143-2 (deposit) standard are tested as they were manufactured and are certified once the test is complete to their proven level of resistance.

Once a test certificate has been issued for a particular product only very minor alterations may be permissible such as a lock upgrade or an alarm cable track.

Any physical alterations to the unit such as suction tube, capsule deposit, rotary deposit drum or envelope slot will make the EN1143 certification void for insurance purposes.